The Chase

The Chase (not to be confused with Cha$e) is a game show based on the British game show of the same name. Contestants compete against Mark Labbett, commonly referred to as "The Beast", for a chance to win hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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A team of three contestants attempt to amass as much money as possible for a team kitty by answering general-knowledge questions. The money earned will go towards the team kitty, but there is one person standing in their way: a quiz genius known as The Beast. The Beast's job is to catch each contestant and make sure the players are not able to put the money into the kitty which the team must collectively play for in "The Final Chase".

To begin, each player comes up one at a time and is given one minute to answer as many questions as possible with each correct answer worth $5,000. The more correct answers given, the more money the players add into the cash-builder.

After the minute is up, the player's money is placed three steps down on an eight-step money board. The player may remain at this step and play for the money they have won, but if they so wish, they can be placed one step lower down the board for a smaller award, or one step further up the board for a greater award, with each award's value being set by The Beast. The lower award can occasionally be a negative amount of money.

If the player elects to play for the greater reward, The Beast is two steps behind them and the player must answer six questions correctly to reach home. If the player elects to remain where they are, The Beast is three steps behind them and the player must answer five questions correctly to reach home. However, if the player elects to play for the smaller reward, The Beast is four steps behind them and the player must answer four questions correctly to reach home.

Once the player nominates their starting position, they must answer questions correctly in order to reach the bottom of the board (known as "getting home") and bank their money. Both the player and The Beast are given the same multiple choice question with three possible answers, then must secretly press one of the three buttons on their keypad to lock in their answer. When one person locks in their answer, the other is given five seconds to lock in their answer; otherwise, they are locked out and are treated as having given a wrong answer. If the player and/or The Beast is correct, they move one step down the board, but if wrong or if one fails to lock in before or within five seconds after their opponent, they must remain where they are. The Beast's job is to catch up to the player and eliminate them from the game by capitalizing on the mistakes the player makes before they can reach the bottom of the board. If this happens, the player is out of the game and the cash disappears, and as the saying goes, the chase is over, but if the player reaches home, their money is put into the team's prize pot which will be contested for in the final round. This is repeated for all three players.

The players who successfully outrun The Beast proceed to The Final Chase. If all three players are caught, then their prize fund is set to $15,000 and the team must nominate one player to proceed to The Final Chase, which is called a "Consolation Chase."

In the final round, the remaining players answer as many questions as possible in two minutes to amass as many spaces as possible. The more questions answered correctly, the players increase their chances to avoid being caught. To start, they are given one space per remaining member of the team. In the case of all 3 players being caught, then the one nominated person will receive a one-step head start, as opposed to having no head start at all. To answer a question, the player must press his/her own buzzer and only he or she can answer it. Upon buzzing in, an off-stage voice says that person's name. But sometimes if the contestant is right and at the same time the other contestant presses the button, it is counted as a wrong person answer, and they can't accept. In the event there's only one player in the Final Chase, that player is not required to press the buzzer. After the two minutes are up, The Beast is brought in and is told how many spaces the players collected. The Beast is given a further two minutes of quick-fire questions to attempt to catch the team. If The Beast gets any question wrong or can't answer it, or sometimes The Beast interrupts the question, the clock is stopped and the question is thrown over to the players. If they get the answer correct, The Beast is pushed back one step and the clock is resumed. If the players answer The Beast's question correctly while The Beast is on zero steps, an extra step is added to the players' total. If The Beast succeeds in catching the team, the team leaves with none, and again, the chase is over, but if the team is not caught by The Beast when time is up, the prize pot is split equally between the remaining team players. Should only one player make it to the Final Chase and win, then that player gets the full amount.

The December 10, 2013 episode of The Chase aired as a season 1 episode instead of a season 2 episode.

The January 21, 2014 episode was the first taped episode.

Season

Episode

Contestants

Date

Money Banked

Finalists

Target/Time Caught

Winner (Prize Fraction)

2

1

Bethany, Trevor, Mike

November 5, 2013

$80,000

All

22 (0:08)

Beast

2

Jamie, Mark, Nathan

November 12, 2013

$45,000

Jamie & Nathan

16 (0:17)

Beast

3

Jay, Faith, Mark

November 19, 2013

$90,000

Jay & Mark

20(Beast Scored 19)

Contestants ($45,000)

4

Jacob, Stephanie, Eric

December 3, 2013

$80,000

Jacob & Eric

18 (0:06)

Beast

5

Lety, Osahon, Adrienne

December 17, 2013

$65,000

Lety & Adrienne

14 (0:45)

Beast

6

Jeremy, Arielle, Chris

January 7, 2014

$80,000

All

19(Beast Scored 15)

Contestants ($26,666)

7

James, Logan, Ariana

January 14, 2014

$30,000

James

14 (0:09)

Beast

8

Julia, Louis, Miguel

January 28, 2014

$115,000

All

21(Beast Scored 19)

Contestants ($38,333)

9

Laura, Eric, Damien

February 4, 2014

$150,000

Laura & Eric

16 (0:45)

Beast

On the December 17, 2013 episode of The Chase, it was a battle of the sexes.

Season

Episode

Contestants

Date

Money Banked

Finalists

Target/Time Caught

Winner (Prize Fraction)

3

1

Lindsay, Erik, Renee

July 8, 2014

$145,000

All

17 (0:02)

Beast

2

Rahul, Molly, Thad

July 15, 2014

$60,000

Molly & Thad

15 (0:33)

Beast

3

Andy, Steven, Muffy

July 22, 2014

$80,000

Andy & Steven

22

Contestants ($40,000)

4

Mason, Rosarlin, Ian

July 29, 2014

$140,000

All

16 (0:43)

Beast

5

Adam, Darrell, Karla

August 5, 2014

$110,000

Adam & Darrell

13 (0:24)

Beast

6

Sean, Rob, Sonya

August 12, 2014

$15,000 Consolation Chase

15 (0:28)

Beast

7

Thomas, Andrew, Lizzy

August 19, 2014

$55,000

Thomas & Lizzy

17 (0:22)

Beast

8

Michael, Caitlin, Gordon

August 26, 2014

$52,000

All

13 (0:41)

Beast

9

James, Jeff, Jamie

September 2, 2014

$175,000

All

26(Beast Scored 9)

Contestants ($58,333)

Season

Episode

Contestants

Date

Money Banked

Finalists

Target/Time Caught

Winner (Prize Fraction)

3

10

Seamus, Boris, Dean

November 11, 2014

$100,000

Seamus & Dean

18

Contestants ($50,000)

11

Dan, Elissa, Rachael

November 18, 2014

$15,000

Elissa

9 (1:14)

Beast

12

Durant, Adam, Larissa

December 2, 2014

$55,000

Durant & Adam

12 (0:45)

Beast

13

Frank, Chris, Jill

December 9, 2014

$110,000

Frank & Chris

18

Contestants ($55,000)

14

John, Stephanie, Andy

December 16, 2014

$85,000

All

16 (0:23)

Beast

The November 11th episode was a celebrity episode featuring Seamus Dever (Castle, playing for Beagle Freedom Project), Boris Kojo (Real Husbands of Hollywood, playing for Sophie's Voice Foundation), and Dean Cain (Hit the Floor, playing for the Gary Sinese Foundation). As Boris was eliminated, his charity earned $5,000.

Season

Episode

Contestants

Date

Money Banked

Finalists

Target/Time Caught

Winner (Prize Fraction)

4

1

Robert, Muffy, Thomas

January 27, 2015

$105,000

All

20

Contestants ($35,000)

2

Carson, Tatyana, Cameron

February 3, 2015

$75,000

Carson & Cameron

10 (0:54)

Beast

3

Huy, David, Melissa

February 10, 2015

$30,000

Huy & Melissa

16 (0:35)

Beast

4

Megan, Victor, Zuri

February 17, 2015

$60,000

Megan & Zuri

16 (0:31)

Beast

5

Shreya, Evan, Brendan

February 24, 2015

$35,000

Shreya & Brendan

17

Contestants ($17,500)

6

7

8

9

The January 27th episode featured three past contestants who lost their games. Not only did they redeemed themselves to outrun the beast in the main chase and advance onto the final chase, but they won $35,000 each in the final chase.

The February 3rd episode was a celebrity episode featuring Carson Kressly (How to Look Good Naked, playing for Pediatric Cancer Foundation), Tatyana M. Ali (playing for Self-Inquiring Life Fellowship), and Cameron Matheson (Good Morning America, playing for Meditation Center Hollywood). As the team was eliminated, their charities earned $5,000 each.

The Chase has become one of the highest rated original programs in GSN's history. The series debuted to 511,000 total viewers during its premiere while maintaining 90% of its audience with 461,000 total viewers during the second episode airing that night. On January 28, 2014, The Chase set a new series high in terms of total viewers and adults 18–49, with 827,000 and 234,000 viewers respectively.

Additional Note: In Australia, the Seven Network had once considered producing a local version of the show for the network and has filmed a pilot using the original UK set but has later decided not to proceed. Additionally, reruns of the UK version airs weekday afternoons at 3pm to good ratings.

In 2012, a pilot for The Chase was originally going to be recorded in London for FOX with Bradley Walsh from the original UK version as host along with former Jeopardy! champ Brad Rutter and Mark Labbett as the Chasers which unfortunately was never sold.

Before Brooke Burns, famed ESPN and ABC sportscaster Dan Patrick was the original choice to host the GSN version of The Chase before negotiations fell through at the last minute. Today, Patrick is the host of Crackle's Sports Jeopardy! since 2014.

Mark Labbett (a.k.a The Beast) is not only a "chaser" in the U.S. version, but also in the original U.K. version as well.

Raj beat The Beast and won $125,000 in season one of the show, making him the biggest winner in GSN history.

An August 15 recording for season two featured The Beast's birthday that aired on November 5.

The episode from January 21, 2014 was the first taped episode from the 1st season.

Reruns of the U.S. version along with its original British counterpart can also been seen daily on U.K.'s equivalent network to GSN, Challenge (also known as Challenge TV).